Media industry divided over Big Tech bill

Journalism Competition bill splits media groups

A proposal aimed at giving news publishers the power to bargain with dominant tech platforms over the distribution of their content is dividing media groups, with some advocates arguing the proposed solution could actually hurt small and local outlets it aims to help.

Members of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee clashed over the proposal during a Wednesday hearing, despite a version of the bill being introduced last year with bipartisan support.

Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who co-sponsored the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), said the proposal would help ensure the survival of local news outlets amid the ongoing rise of digital ad revenue “titans” Google and Facebook.

But ranking member Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) bashed the proposal as a misguided effort and suggested that at least some news publishers are facing issues because they failed to take into account evolving technology to adapt their business models.

He also said the proposal could lead to a news “cartel,” a concern also raised by some of the witnesses at the hearing and by public advocates who sent a letter to the senators warning against the bill.

“News giants with the greatest leverage would dominate the negotiations and small outlets with diverse or dissenting voices would be unheard if not hurt,” a group of public interest advocates wrote in a letter to Klobuchar and Lee.